Skepchick Quickies, 11.11
- 10 geeky laws that should exist, but don’t. (From Nicole.)
- Looks like the backwards-walking cheerleader is “cured.”
- There’s no credible link between cell phones and cancer, but that hasn’t killed the story yet. (From Jenea.)
- Scientist action figures! (From Barbara.)
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31 Comments
Nicole
11.11.2009
We still live in an era of snake oil salesmen. Dammit, it makes me sick just thinking about it…
Vengeful Harridan (Elexina)
11.11.2009
Sometimes I wish cell phones DID cause cancer. Then maybe people would put the damn things down and drive straight -or maybe just pay attention to the people with whom they are actually supposed to be interacting. Darn kids and their gadgets…
I’m SO buying the action figures for my kids-in-law! Bonus: Darwin doubles as Randi, right? Right?
catgirl
11.11.2009
I’d rather have action figures of Bohr, Mendel, and Linnaeus.
Sam Ogden
11.11.2009
@Vengeful Harridan (Elexina):
Testify!!
In other news, Geekdad apparently uses the single loosest definition of “geek” in the history of definitions when they claim that President Obama is a geek.
Tanstaafl56
11.11.2009
@Sam Ogden: I think it’s just because the prez looks kinda like Erkle
Where’s Sagan and Feynman? My NASA buddy got Einstein for me last xmas.
marilove
11.11.2009
@Sam Ogden: I don’t know, when you give the Vulcan salute to Leonard Lemoy, I think maybe you can be called a geek. I mean that was just effin’ cool.
Zapski
11.11.2009
He also poses like Superman
http://questgarden.com/72/60/1/081205162959/images/Obama-superman.jpg
infinitemonkey
11.11.2009
@marilove: The vulcan salute, when it stands by itself, isn’t geek, its dork. It’s gotta have a modifier.
Steve
11.11.2009
I’d like to see an episode of House where the final diagnosis is psychogenic. I can just see House hiring an actor to administer a sham treatment to “cure” the patient.
infinitemonkey
11.11.2009
How about 3 more scientists and 8 skeptics, then we can have skeptical chess. Hmm….Hubbel, Miescher, and Wegener.
Rebecca, Randi, Bernstein, Hrab, Shermer, Grothe, Swoopy, and Savage could be the pawns. The “named” pieces would be classified according to their field. Astronomy (king/queen), biology (knight), Physics (bishop), and Geology (rook).
laarree
11.11.2009
Thanks for posting about the “backwards-walking” cheerleader, Jen. I had seen the Youtube video of her when her bizarre story started circulating around the web recently, and, despite my ordinarily ferocious skepticism, I have to admit I was slightly unnerved by it. It’s nice to know the skeptical community has done its job once again.
plumberbob
11.11.2009
Where’s: Lisa Meitner?
Rosalind Franklin?
Rosalyn Yalow?
Let’s get the women who’ve really already done the work recognized.
catgirl
11.11.2009
@Steve:
I would hate to see that. Psychogenic illness already has too much stigma as being “fake”.
Sam Ogden
11.11.2009
@Tanstaafl56:
I guess. But he is way cooler than Erkle.
And strictly speaking, is Erkle a geek? I’d put him more at the nerd or spaz level.
@marilove:
What else are you gonna do to Leonard Nemoy?
ekimbrough
11.11.2009
@Sam Ogden: The nerve pinch.
I mean, have you _seen_ the photos he takes?
Sam Ogden
11.11.2009
@ekimbrough:
Leonard Nemoy or the President?
marilove
11.11.2009
@Sam Ogden: @ekimbrough: http://www.leonardnimoyphotography.com/
I suspect ekimbrough just made fatphobic comment regarding Leonard Lemoy’s hobby of taking beautiful photos celebrating the female form of women who aren’t stick-thin.
I’m a size 14/16, btw, the low end of the women he photographs.
Thanks for that, ekimbrough. It’s nice to know that seeing naked pictures of women that look an awful lot like me is so horrific.
marilove
11.11.2009
Limoy. Limoy. I can never get his damn name right.
Sam Ogden
11.11.2009
@marilove:
Oh. No, I had not heard much about Nemoy’s photography. At least not the subjects.
But if that was ekimbrough’s meaning, I think I know who needs the nerve pinch most.
ekimbrough
11.11.2009
@marilove: No, I just don’t care for what I’ve seen of his photography in the past. I looked at the link you posted, and his more recent work is way better than his older work, so thanks for pointing me toward that.
But have you seen the stuff he was putting out several years ago, when he was inexplicably getting more attention for his photography? The Helmut Newton satire was great, but a lot of what got everyone talking were mostly just random clusters of people standing about or sitting about under boring Photography 101 softbox lighting. Bleccch.
The subjects weren’t the problem
marilove
11.11.2009
@ekimbrough: Okay, good.
Then I take back my comments.
I’ve just read/heard people exclaim horror over Limoy taking pictures of fat women, on more than a few occasions.
Carry on.
ekimbrough
11.11.2009
Fair enough, and I should have posted a more specific message to begin with because indeed some people have had a knee-jerk “nobody wants to see fat people” reaction to his photography.
Besides, it would have been a hell of a lot funnier and less controversial if I had pointed out that Nimoy should be given the nerve pinch for his _singing_. Missed my best shot:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1189977381292772054#
marilove
11.11.2009
@ekimbrough: Hahahahahahaha.
Oh, Limoy. I can’t help but adore you, even when you’re singing.
marilove
11.11.2009
@ekimbrough: Oh and I admit my reaction was a bit knee-jerk, but I’ve just heard, “ewwww, naked fat women!” too much, I guess. I should’ve asked before assuming, but then I wouldn’t be loling over his singing right now, would I?
ekimbrough
11.11.2009
@marilove: More seriously, the earlier and most widely publicized fat-nudes photography came under some criticism that was deeper than “ewww fat!” Specifically, some asked whether his use of fat models became a gimmick, with not much substance offered beyond the gimmick. You’re not exactly celebrating or thoughtfully exploring a particular group if you’re using them as gimmicks. But in fairness to Nimoy, there are probably as many critics rejecting that criticism as there are are critics making it.
marilove
11.11.2009
@ekimbrough: From what I’ve seen, and from what I’ve read from him, it doesn’t seem to be a gimmick, but an honest appreciation of the form, and a desire to do something a lot of photography artists are afraid to do. But that’s definitely a fair question to ask/criticism to bring up, and not in the same line as “ewww naked fat women!”
He doesn’t seem much like the gimmicky type, though.
Chasmosaur
11.12.2009
So I made the mistake of showing my husband the Science Action Figures. He worships Tesla. A set are on their way to us now…but that’s okay because I get Darwin
Garrison22
11.12.2009
Any person who would argue over whether the Prez (or any other person) is a geek or nerd must, themselves, be a geek or nerd.
Sheldon’s Law
(of Big Bang Theory, plus that’s my dad’s name, and he’s a geek of the highest level)
Re: Science action figures: I like that on the blurb it says: “Carry this century’s most notable scientific minds in your pocket.”
None of these scientists are from “this century.”
Nice.
exarch
11.13.2009
And not all of them are from the last century either.
But they are at the moment still the most notable …
mahlersoboes
11.13.2009
“Comic Book Guy’s Law” should be renamed “Randall’s Law” (after the guy from “Clerks”).
Vengeful Harridan (Elexina)
11.13.2009
@mahlersoboes: LIKE!
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